Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesDana Epperson focuses this wine on Running Creek, an estate vineyard on River Road in the Russian River Valley, providing 53 percent of the blend. Most of the rest comes from Keefer Ranch in Green Valley. Those cool, fog-driven sites bring out a delicate pear-blossom scent in this wine, adding fruit highlights to an otherwise earthy chardonnay, the flavor depth as yellow as the sun, without taking on its warmth.
Aged for 10 months in 40% new French oak, the 2020 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast is fresh with white flowers and citrus. The palate is medium-bodied and has a floral and confectionary feel, noted by candied pear and vanilla cream.
Since our inaugural 2001 vintage of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, Migration has developed a refined and compelling style that balances vibrancy and finesse. In the years since, Migration has taken wing beyond our Anderson Valley origins as we have explored Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from California’s finest cool-climate appellations, most notably the legendary Sonoma Coast. Today, Migration works with a handful of acclaimed growers to produce a small portfolio of sought-after Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, including our flagship Sonoma Coast wines, and our coveted vineyard-designates. These sophisticated, Burgundian-varietal wines highlight lush fruit, bright acidity and balanced oak influence.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.